Saturday, June 26, 2010

O.G. Swindle Breaks It Down For All You Young Bucks

To skip all my rambling, sleep deprived nonsense and go directly to superior writing, go here. If you're a glutton for punishment then by all means continue.

I have always followed the USMNT with some interest, but I was not hardcore. Like many, it was hard for me to *really* get into them when frankly they were never that good. So immediately after the momentous win the other day I thought man, all of us soccer fans who were kind of into it but not fully invested emotionally need to seriously bow down to the O.G.s who dared to love the team when it had Jeff Agoos as a starter.

Then I realized that there are many new passengers to the USS Soccer who just boarded at the last port and don't yet know that they are about to blow all the money they saved on the sweet cabin berth on a bar tab that will turn their monthly household balance sheet upside down. You are the young bucks, the newbees, and yes, as recently as last week you may have been flat out haters. Well that's all over now, everything's cool, so let's get you up to speed ASAP- we've got a new OMG biggest game ever tomorrow.

Support the team all out? Yes, of course. But don't try to walk around acting like you're O.G. when you're not, because people can tell the difference between the jacket you just copped at Niketown last night and the raggedy old schwag of yesteryear. So get as excited as you want, but don't pose. The O.G.s deserve respect, so show them some by shaking their hand like you would an old war veteran, for if they've been around since before 2002 then it's odds on they have multiple scars, a touch of PTSD, a tatoo they don't know the shop or even port of origin of, and a war story or 3 to tell.

How can I show my respect? By making sure that you read the best piece of writing on the USMNT that I have come across during this World Cup: Orson Swindle's amazing journey as a die hard member of Sam's Army from 1998 to today. It is titled Found In Translation: 12 Years Of Chasing The US Mens National Team. If you read one article on USMNT, make sure it's this one.

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